Dallas Stars: The Stars have depth scoring, but what else is missing?

Is the recent uptick in depth scoring enough to keep the Dallas Stars above a .500 win percentage? If not, what needs to change?

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article discussing the issues with the Dallas Stars “trio” dilemma on what the situation should be regarding the Jamie Benn-Tyler Seguin-Alexander Radulov line. That isn’t the topic of discussion in the Stars’ locker room, however, as Alexander Radulov has been dealing with a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the past four games.

Fortunately for the Stars, other names have re-appeared on the score sheet, and the depth scoring that fans worried about over the offseason is showing up.

Jason Dickinson had a fantastic three-point night late last week on Thursday night in a 5-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks.

Jason Spezza (2), Blake Comeau, Tyler Pitlick, Radek Faksa, Mattias Janmark, Gemel Smith, Miro Heiskanen, Connor Carrick, and even Roman Polak have also gotten in on the scoring.

Keep in mind, this is all without Radulov, who still sits at second in the team in goals (with four), assists (with six), and points (with ten).

All but six roster players (Esa Lindell, Julius Honka, Brett Ritchie, Valeri Nichushkin, Justin Dowling, and Marc Methot) have scored so far.

Though depth players have found the net this year, the Stars at an even .500 record after Sunday’s 4-2 loss against the Detroit Red Wings.

In addition to Radulov, both Methot and Ritchie sat out Sunday due to injuries.

The Stars are now starting to hit their scoring stride—which is great. But they still have trouble with winning some games, particularly on the road. The Stars are 0-3 on the road. This poses as a significant problem to Dallas, who will trek on for five more games in a six-game road trip that began last night in Michigan. The Stars will now head to Montreal, Toronto, Washington D.C., Boston, and Columbus before heading home to host the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 8.

“I think it is imperative that we are above .500 on this trip,” Head Coach Jim Montgomery told Stars’ Inside Edge Mark Stepneski on Saturday. “We’ve got to have an attitude of us against the world.”

Montgomery is correct; road wins are huge. And the Stars will have to milk every opportunity they get over the next nine days to try and compete in a rigorous Central Division.

Dallas sits at ten points (5-5-0) this season, just one point ahead of the St. Louis Blues (3-4-3), who’s dead last in the Central.

Notable League Information

• Aside from Dallas, the New York Rangers are the only other NHL team to not win a game on the road with a 0-4-1 away record. The Rangers are last in the Metropolitan Division with seven points (3-7-1).
• The Nashville Predators have yet to lose a game on the road, winning all five of their road contests so far. The Preds are tied for first in the Central Division with the Colorado Avalanche with 16 points. Colorado is 4-2-1 on the road.

Dallas Stars Stats and Updates

(Note: Some statistics may not be updated from Sunday’s loss @ Detroit.)

• Defenseman John Klingberg and center Tyler Seguin are tied for first on the team with 12 points each. Klingberg (six goals, six assists), scored a total of eight goals last season but has scored six in just ten games this year.
• Blueliner Marc Methot is the only player on the roster who has not recorded a point in a game played this season. A lower-body injury has limited Methot to only seven games so far this season.
• Forward Tyler Pitlick and defenseman Roman Polak lead the Stars with a +3 plus/minus rating. Forwards Blake Comeau and Mattias Janmark have a team-low -7.
• Forward Jamie Benn leads the Stars in penalty minutes with 11.
• Defenseman Stephen Johns is traveling with the team on the ten-day, six-game road trip. Johns has yet to play this season due to post-traumatic headaches and was wearing earplugs during practice Saturday morning. Johns, who was signed to a three-year contract extension over the summer, might see get some playing time for the first time this year.
• John Klingberg leads the Stars in ice time with an average of 25 minutes and 27 seconds per game. Klingberg is followed by Esa Lindell (24 m, 12 s) and Miro Heiskanen (21 m, 09 s).
• Blake Comeau leads Dallas in hits with 26.
• Tyler Seguin leads the team in shots with 52. John Klingberg is second on the team with 29.

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• Goaltender Ben Bishop has a .923 save percentage through seven games.

• Published on 10/29/2018 at 17:00 PM
• Last updated at 10/29/2018 at 13:17 PM